Many obstacles present themselves as you fly upstream. First, you must avoid hitting the river banks, as these will somehow cause your plane to explode.

Boats and helicopters lie still until you approach, then attempt to get in your way. Fast flying planes come out of no where and attempt to ram you. All of these can be shot for points. You must shoot bridges ahead, as they block your path. Do not shoot the pill-shaped objects marked fuel. Run them over instead, and your fuel tank (visible at the bottom of the screen) will be replenished.

While this genre of game is well represented in the Atari library, some nice touches set this one apart. Pushing up or pulling back on your joystick cause you to speed up or slow down, respectively. These are accompanied by audio cues. This feature is especially nice when passing over fuel items. Slow down while crossing them to maximize your fill-up.